Hungarian nominee for EU commissioner passes EP test
November 22nd, 2019A left-wing commentator notes with resignation that PM Orbán has had his way, as his compromise candidate for EU Enlargement Commissioner was found fit for the job by the competent (Foreign Affairs) committee of the European Parliament.
Népszava’s Róbert Friss believes that Olivér Várhelyi, a career diplomat, performed exactly the same “peacock dance” in front of MEPs in Brussels that PM Orbán usually plays, paying lip service to European values without actually believing in them. In Mr Orbán’s regime, he argues, no one can be independent. He finds it risky, therefore, for the European Union to entrust enlargement to Mr Várhelyi, who might be instrumental in letting Balkan countries join the Union without the necessary democratic credentials. Friss fears that once admitted to the Union, such countries would strengthen the East European block within the EU.